


Not a Hero

by Aquafolie, Thundersnow (pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Barry Allen, Body Swap, Canon Compliant, ColdFlash Week, Coldflash Week 2017, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Glasses, Joe is not supportive, Leonard Snart is a Softie, Lewis Snart's A+ Parenting, M/M, Multimedia, No Smut, Pansexual Leonard Snart, Protective Joe West, Secret Relationship, bike kink?, but only a teany tiny bit, fic with art, joe is pissssssssed, the others aren't at first either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-18 19:36:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10623711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquafolie/pseuds/Aquafolie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel/pseuds/Thundersnow
Summary: When Barry and Len swap bodies while on a date, they choose to hide it so that their relationship can remain a secret..“We didn’t even know you were interested in anyone, Barry,” Caitlin smiled.Yeah, Len thought,there’s a reason for that. He was about to give a generic answer when an idea came to him and he had to resist the urge to smirk, knowing it would look odd on Barry’s lips.“Oh, yeah, you’d love him,” Len said, talking himself up. “He’s smart, funny, rich, sexy… body like aGod.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Не герой](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14168745) by [Rosy_Warner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosy_Warner/pseuds/Rosy_Warner)



> Coldflash Week Day 4: Body Swap  
> This one was originally supposed to be posted a few days ago but we decided to leave it until last. I had a lot of fun writing this and it could have actually been a lot bigger (at least double the size it is now) if I'd had time to write it all ~ _Thundersnow_
> 
> [Last edited to remove mistakes: 21/09/2017]

 

Barry meticulously fiddled with his hair. He had to look perfect tonight. It was his third date with Len and _everyone_ knew what third dates meant. He had on his best boxer briefs: red, because Len liked the colour on him, and soft… silky, almost. Over that, he wore black skinny jeans with a fitted grey sweater, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He looked good… he hoped.

Barry always got this way before a big date. He was nervous and nit-picking on every single flaw. Were the jeans too tight? Was it too cool out to not take a jacket? Did the outfit look better with or without a belt? Was he overthinking this? Yes. Yes, he was. He _knew_ that Len didn’t care about this kind of thing but he just wanted tonight to be the best.

Barry picked up his wallet, checking that he had his ID (and hoping that he wouldn’t get carded tonight because he _really_ didn’t want to remind Len of just how big the age gap was between them) and some condoms. His heart picked up a little as he confirmed that he had everything he needed for tonight’s date.

Barry had to resist the urge to run to the door when he heard Len knocking. Normally, they would meet at the venue but Barry had the house to himself tonight, Joe working the night shift and Wally at a party, so Len felt comfortable enough picking him up. On the back of his bike... which was _all_ _kinds_ of hot.

When Barry opened the door, he couldn’t help checking out his date. Len was wearing tight grey jeans with a navy henley shirt, black biker boots, and a grey leather jacket. Barry had half a mind to pull him inside the house and keep him occupied until the early hours of the morning.

Instead, he smiled and muttered a soft “hi.”

“Barry, you look great,” Len complimented and then pursed his lips. “Not quite ‘skin-tight red leather suit’ great. But this is a close second,” he remarked and Barry blushed.

“So do you.”

“You ready to go?” Len asked and Barry nodded. He grabbed his keys and locked up before following Len towards the bike waiting on the street in front of the house. Barry didn’t know much about bikes, but he knew that he, Len, and this bike had been the stars of many of his fantasies. It was odd, Barry had never been into the ‘bad boy’ type before. But ever since he’d met Len it was _all_ he wanted. Len passed Barry a spare helmet and they climbed on. “Hold on tight,” Len drawled to him and Barry was surprised to hear it over a speaker in the helmet.

He wondered how many times Len had worn these exact helmets with Lisa or Mick on heists. But then he put it out of his mind. He wasn’t the Flash tonight. He wasn’t Barry Allen, the lead forensic investigator for Central City. He was just Len's boyfriend, and he was determined to play the part well.

Barry wrapped his arms around Len’s waist and leaned into him. He imagined Len smirking beneath his helmet as he turned the bike on and rode away.

At first, Barry’s mind sped up, the world around him moving slow. But then he relaxed and the pace returned to normal. They moved through the city swiftly, Barry feeling more and more comfortable with each passing moment. He wanted this to last forever, this closeness, this wordless intimacy that he was feeling with Len in that moment. Maybe it was all in his head? Or maybe Len felt the same way? Because he seemed to take the long way to the park. Barry knew this city like the back of his hand, thanks to his nightly activities as the Flash, and this was definitely not the best way to the bonfire.

Central City’s bonfire was a popular event and it generally drew in a lot of people from surrounding cities. It was a great romantic evening with enough people around that Len wouldn’t have to worry about being spotted in the crowd by cops. Hiding in plain sight was apparently a better option than Barry had ever thought.

Once they parked up at the bonfire, they paid a few dollars for admission and went straight to the lines of food and drink stalls. Part of the reason Central’s bonfire was so popular was because of the licence they’d acquired to allow all of the stalls. It was more of a food and drink festival at this point than it was a bonfire, with businesses from all around the country opening stalls in the park to promote themselves.

They grabbed a hot dog each and a beer, sitting on the grass near the bonfire and watching as the flames crackled in the darkening sky. There was a tribute band playing at the other end of the park, their music loud enough to fill the entire area.

As the night went on, the non-greasy food stalls began to pack up, the alcohol content in the drinks started going up, and the band retired to be replaced by a DJ. The music became louder and bass-ier, a welcome change to the partiers around them but a signal to Barry that it was maybe time for a change of venues.

“How about we go somewhere quieter?” Barry suggested, pressed up against Len so his boyfriend could hear him clearly.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Len drawled, offering his hand to Barry to help the younger man up. Barry accepted it and his heart skipped a little when Len never made to let go, they walked hand in hand back around the outside of the park. Len had parked his bike a few blocks away and so they strolled through the street leisurely, just enjoying each other’s company.

It was just their luck, really, that one of the stores Len had chosen to park in front of happened to be getting robbed when they arrived. Len was the first to notice. He pulled Barry back to keep him out of sight, but Barry was more stubborn than he liked to admit.

“Stop!” Barry shouted automatically as he saw the thief leaving the shop with her loot. For a moment, he considered flashing forward and taking the items out of her hands, dropping her off in front of a police precinct with a note. But Len was holding him back. Which was probably a good thing: he was far too reckless sometimes and really shouldn’t be using his powers without his suit on.

Still, he wanted to help… it was just the kind of person he was. The thief turned towards them and quickly raised her hand in their direction. Her eyes glowed brightly in the dark night and Barry's vision suddenly began to swim. He felt nauseous and dizzy as the world around him became fuzzy. He closed his eyes and held his head, the sounds of the world drowning in white noise that got louder and louder until it was all he could hear.

When the noise quietened and the world stopped spinning, he opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor, the cool concrete underneath his cheek. He sat up quickly and realised that the woman was no longer there. His head ached so he subconsciously raised his hand to rub at it, his fingers brushing against short stiff hairs. Barry baulked and turned quickly to find Len. And he instead found himself, green eyes blinking back at him.

Oh, _crap_.

“You’re in my body…” Barry muttered, the shape of his mouth feeling strange.

“And you’re in mine,” Len replied. And God, that sounded weird. Was that what Barry really sounded like? He always thought his voice was deeper than that.

They both stood up, Barry doing so more shakily than Len, and tried to let that sink in. They were in each other’s bodies. That woman, the thief, was a metahuman. Madam Metempsychose, that’s what Cisco had named her. Team Flash had been after her for a few weeks now, she was low priority since she never actually harmed anyone during her heists, but none of her victims had given an accurate depiction of her yet.

"This is not good," Barry muttered, beginning to pace back and forth. This would only last a few days, he reminded himself. Everyone else who'd been affected by Metempsychose switched back fairly quickly. But what were they going to do in the meantime? How were they going to explain this to Caitlin, Cisco, _Joe_?! This was bad. This was very, very, bad.

“What’s not good is that we’re standing here, in front of a shop that’s just been robbed, just drawing attention to ourselves,” Len muttered, snapping Barry out of his inner monologue. “We need to leave.” Len quickly moved towards his bike, pulling a helmet on over his head and throwing the spare to Barry. Barry fumbled, almost dropping the helmet despite the fact Len had thrown it with very good accuracy right into his hands. Barry pulled the helmet on but stayed standing awkwardly on the pavement as he saw Len climb onto the bike. Len in _Barry’s_ body.

“Wait, I don’t have a licence,” Barry pointed out quickly. “What if we get pulled over?”

“I think we’ll have bigger issues to deal with if we get pulled over,” Len drawled. “Now get on.” Barry hesitated only a moment longer before following. The second that Barry wrapped his arms around Len, the bike began moving. He took the quicker way back to Joe’s house this time, and the electricity that was in the air between them before was now all but gone. Barry mourned its loss. This date was _supposed_ to be perfect, dammit!

Len parked the bike in front of the house again and Barry thought he’d lost his keys for a moment before remembering that he wasn’t in his own body right then. Len dug the keys out and they both slipped inside quietly.

They took seats in the living room and tried to sort this mess out.

“So, this _is_ temporary, right?” Len asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, definitely. We’ve been dealing with a bunch of these cases for the past few weeks now. It only ever lasts for a few days. Come Monday we should be back to normal… I hope,” Barry rambled a little. “The real problem is what we’re going to do in the meantime. I mean, you _cannot_ stay here. Joe would figure out there was something wrong as soon as he saw you. And, unless you fancy trying your hand at being the Flash…”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“I didn’t think so. So, you’re going to have to avoid Cisco and Caitlin until this is all back to normal too. And then, I don’t know, I could get a hotel for the weekend, maybe,” Barry added on and Len instantly shook his head.

“As long as you’re in my body, you’re staying with me,” he insisted. “We’ll go back to my apartment.”

“Sure, that works. I’ll figure something out to tell Joe.”

“Tell Joe?” Len questioned.

“About why I’m suddenly not home this weekend,” Barry continued and Len blinked at him before frowning.

“You have to check in with him about that kind of thing?”

"Well, yeah. He's basically my dad," Barry said like it was obvious. Of course he had to check in with Joe. If he just disappeared for a few days, then the guy would probably form a task force at work to find him.

“Huh.”

That one sound made Barry’s stomach twist. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone had parents that cared as deeply for them as Joe cared for Barry. He didn’t know much about Len’s childhood but, given everything that had happened with Lewis last year, Barry could only assume that the senior Snart hadn’t been very concerned about where his kids were and what they got up to.

“I’ll pack a few clothes,” Barry muttered and Len nodded, following him as he began walking upstairs to his room.

“I have to admit, Barry, this isn’t exactly how I pictured I would see your bedroom for the first time,” Len drawled as he entered the room. Barry thought about the condoms he’d stuffed into his wallet for tonight and blushed: this wasn’t the scenario that he’d expected either.

With a sigh, he grabbed an overnight bag from his closet, some of his nicer briefs (because if Len was going to be seeing his underwear then he would be seeing the best of it, and not the worn-out pairs that he reserved for his laundry days), a few shirts, and a pair of jeans.

“Do you own anything in a straight cut?” Len drawled as he sat on the bed and waited. And, _God_ , it sounded so weird to hear his own voice speaking like that… "Skinny jeans aren't my idea of lounge clothes." Barry shrugged and replaced the skinny jeans he'd picked out for something a bit looser. They were just about ready to go when there was suddenly the noise of movement coming from downstairs.

[] [] []

Len heard the distinct sound of the front door opening and closing downstairs and sat up a little straighter on Barry’s bed.

“I thought you said you had the house to yourself tonight,” he whispered across the room to where Barry was standing, in Len’s own body, looking as white as a ghost.

“I thought I would!” Barry whispered back. The bedroom door was open and so they both could clearly hear whoever had just entered the house moving around. Barry moved to close the door but accidentally knocked the jacket off the back in the process. That would have only made a soft thud, an easily missable noise for the person downstairs, but Barry stumbled to try to catch it. Len felt like facepalming.

"Hey, Bear. You up?" A young male voice called up. So, not Detective West, then. Likely his son instead. That was good. Barry looked at him with big eyes and Len hadn't realised that his own face could make that puppy dog look anymore.

“Yeah, Wally. I’m here,” he called down. He got off the bed and wandered onto the landing, looking down at the youngest West below.

“Oh, cool. The party was boring so I came back for the night. You wanna watch a movie?”

“Sorry, can’t,” Len said, barely managing to stop himself from calling Wally ‘Kid’. “I’m heading out soon. I’ll be down in a minute,” he said and retreated back to the room. Len took the overnight bag from Barry and nodded to the window. “Think you can climb down?” He asked quietly. It seemed like the easiest way out of the situation.

“Erm…” Barry looked quickly to the window and back. “Sure.”

“Good. I’ll meet you by my bike in two minutes,” he commanded before turning to leave. He heard the window open behind him as he made his way down the staircase.

“Where’re you off?” Wally asked once he saw the overnight bag in Len’s hands.

“Just crashing at a friend’s house for a few days,” he shrugged. “Let Joe know I won’t be back until Monday, yeah?”

“The whole weekend, huh?” Wally whistled. “That date must have gone _really_ well.” Len said nothing as he looked at Barry’s adoptive brother. How much had Barry told him about tonight? _Obviously_ , he didn't know who it was with. If he did, then Barry wouldn't have agreed to climb down the tree outside instead of coming down and facing him… "Oh, don't look so surprised, Barry," Wally waved off. "You got dressed into like five different outfits before I left: you were either going on a date or a job interview."

“Right,” Len smirked. So, Barry had been as nervous about this as Len had? That was good to know. At least Len didn’t have any witnesses to spill the beans to Barry about _his_ pre-date jitters. Len would store this away for later teasing. Right now, though… “I should go. I’ll see you soon,” he excused himself and left the West house.

Barry was standing by the bike when Len got there, mud smudged across one-half of his face.

“Do I want to know what happened?” Len asked.

“I slipped climbing the last few feet of the tree,” he replied sheepishly and Len sighed.

“Barry, if you could do me a favour and try _not_ to die while in my body, that would be great.” Len handed the bag to Barry for him to strap across his back, then they climbed back onto the bike, secured their helmets, and rode to Len’s apartment. Barry looked around a bit once they got there, seeming surprised to see that Len lived in such a nice neighbourhood, but the events of the night were weighing on them now.

They both agreed to just call it a night so Len gave Barry some sleeping clothes and showed him to the spare bedroom, because it was just too weird to share a bed for the first time like _this_ , and they said goodnight.

[] [] []

When Len woke up the next morning he was hard. _Achingly_ so.

He stared up at his ceiling and willed it to go away but that rogue part of his brain kept wondering how it would feel if he touched himself, if he took Barry’s long hard dick in his hand and teased himself open. Would it feel different in Barry’s body than it did in his own?

The thought remained at the forefront of his mind, despite how hard Len tried to think of something else, making his dick twitch and pulse untouched. Slowly, Len got out of bed and headed for a shower. He tried his best not to peak or touch himself too much as he stripped out of his briefs, which were now sticky with the precum leaking from his throbbing cock. _Barry’s_ cock. _Fuck_.

Still, Len refused to touch himself.

But the more he tried to ignore it, the more he thought about it. He wondered if Barry was dealing with a similar problem right then. And thinking about Barry in his body eventually led to other issues besides his throbbing hard-on. Like his scars. Had Barry seen them yet? He knew about them already, obviously, Len had talked about them before. But this would have been the first time that Barry could actually _see_ them.

Thinking about that turned out to be enough to deflate his morning wood. He finished up in the shower quickly and got changed. He towel dried his hair and then wandered into the kitchen. Barry was already awake, sitting at Len’s table and smiling meekly.

“Morning,” Len muttered. Barry put a coffee cup in his hands and Len frowned as he noticed the slight smokiness in the room. “What happened?”

“I, err, tried to cook some breakfast. It didn’t go well.” Len shook his head fondly. “You’re not mad that I burnt our breakfast?” Barry asked.

“Did you start a fire?”

“Well, no…”

“Then you’re not as bad as Mick.” Mick just flat out wasn’t allowed near the stove anymore. Len had to disconnect the gas before he would leave him alone in the kitchen. He took a sip of his coffee and opened a window to let the smoke out. It was the 4th July weekend and so all the previous night’s bonfires and fireworks left a fog in the city, blocking the heat from the sun and keeping the air cool. The breeze helped to relax Len further.

He made them pancakes for breakfast and they ate in peace. For the time being, that is. That all changed when Barry’s phone began to ring. Len had taken it and Barry’s wallet out of his jeans last night before they went to bed, leaving both items on the kitchen table. When it began to ring, Barry picked it up automatically.

“Hello?” Barry mumbled after swallowing a bite of pancake.

“I… wait, who is this?” Len heard through the phone (Barry _really_ needed to turn that thing down) and they both seemed to realise Barry’s mistake at the same time, turning to look at one another as though searching for answers.

“Erm… _no one_!” Barry panicked, his eyes wide, and he shoved the phone towards Len. Len who was _not_ impressed that he had to deal with this, especially not this early in the morning. He took the phone as Barry mouthed ‘ _Cisco_ ’ to him.

“Cisco, hey,” he eventually sighed into the cell.

“ _Barry Allen_!” Cisco practically shouted down the line, sounding scandalised. “Who was that answering your phone at _8 am_ on a Saturday?” He didn’t stop to wait for an answer. “Are you seeing someone?”

Len attempted to come up with an excuse, but eventually just sighed.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t I know about this? I thought we shared everything, Man!”

“It’s still new,” Len muttered. It was true, he and Barry had only been dating for two weeks, but not exactly the reason why Barry’s friends knew nothing about their relationship. “Oh, come _on_! That’s no excuse to keep your best bud in the dark. I’m hurt, Barry. Hurt!”

“I’m… sorry?” Len blinked and Barry covered up a laugh with a cough across the table. Len glared at him and his boyfriend had the _nerve_ to grin back. In Len’s own body, which was… weird. He’d never seen himself grinning before, he almost didn’t recognise his own face.

“Somehow, I don’t believe you,” Cisco muttered, bringing Len’s attention back to the phone call. “Anyway, back to the reason I called. You’re obviously pretty _busy_ right now,” Len smirked at that pun. “But, when you get a chance, can you stop by the labs? We haven’t clocked your speed on the treadmill in a while.”

“Actually, I was thinking of having the weekend off,” Len replied. “Can it wait until Monday?”

“Oh, err, yeah. Sure. Monday,” Cisco replied slowly. “Does that mean no Flash duty this weekend, either?”

"Exactly," Len agreed and took a sip of coffee. Barry may be terrible at cooking, but he knew how to make a damn good cup of joe.

“Right, okay. We’ll see you Monday,” Cisco finished and Len hung up. Barry had been sure that they’d be back in the right bodies by then, but if not then he’d just text West and Cisco a change of plans. Len put the phone back on the table and they finished eating, Len finding that he was far more hungry than normal and having to make a second batch.

“Yeah, erm, that happens,” Barry explained as Len sat back down with more pancakes. “It’s a Flash thing. Fast metabolism.”

“Huh,” Len acknowledged after swallowing his first bite. “Anything else I should know about?” Barry blushed at that and Len was suddenly intrigued.

“Erm, no. Nope, no, that’s... that's about it,” Barry stuttered and Len raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Whatever it was, he was sure he’d have a lot of fun with it when he and Barry were back in their own bodies. Len continued eating his pancakes, he didn’t think he’d ever eaten this much in one sitting before in his _life_ , and Barry got up to take his cup to the sink, accidentally knocking Len’s mug off of the table as he went.

But then it slowed, the whole _room_ slowed: from the curtains blowing in the breeze to Barry who was very slowly turning around, his mouth forming a curse. Everything slowed, except Len. After a moment of hesitation, he reached over and plucked the mug from mid-air. Between one blink and the next, time sped up again.

“ _Crap_ ,” Barry muttered. And then: “oh… did you just…?” He asked and Len nodded.

“So, _that’s_ what it's like..." he muttered and slowly placed the cup back onto the table. He'd always been curious about how it felt to have super speed… Len stared at the mug for a moment, his pancakes temporarily forgotten, and felt Barry staring at him. "You're lucky you're pretty, Kid," Len eventually said. "If I wasn't so into you, I might be tempted to take these powers for a _test run_.”

“Don’t even think about stealing anything while in my body, Len,” Barry warned, but there was no heat in his voice… maybe because it was all currently in his cheeks, _Len’s_ cheeks, as he blushed fiercely at Len’s admission. It wasn’t exactly the first time that they’d mentioned their feelings for one another, but Len still got a kick out of Barry’s jubilant reaction. He smirked and shook his head playfully.

“Such a wasted opportunity,” he sighed in reply. Barry rolled his eyes and then went back to the sink to wash his mug. He put it on the draining board and moved to take a shower and get dressed. Len finished the rest of his pancakes and his smirk slowly fell from his lips as he began to worry about how they were going to make this weekend work…

It had been at least ten years since his last serious relationship, everything since then had been one night stands and flings. He hadn’t spent an entire weekend with someone he was dating in a _long_ time. So far everything seemed to be going smoothly, but would it last? This thing with Barry may have only been going on for two weeks, but it was more than a fling. It _was_ serious and Len did not want to mess it up. As he thought about this, he took his plate to the sink and cleaned up.

He’d just put the plate on the rack and finished drying his hands when he heard movement outside his apartment door. He stood tense and listened closely, hearing the tell-tale sound of someone picking a lock. His lock. Len quickly grabbed a small knife from the kitchen and approached his front door. He checked the spyhole and got ready to defend himself and his home. His tension dropped suddenly as he recognised the two people on the other side of the door.

Cisco Ramon and Doctor Caitlin Snow. _Great_ …

Len put the knife down and unlocked the door, hearing Cisco yelp and curse. When he opened it, Cisco was lying flat on his ass, having fallen back in surprise, with Caitlin standing behind him. Both of them stared back at Len with wide eyes.

“It was her idea,” Cisco shouted, pointing up at Doctor Snow. She looked down at him, completely unimpressed. Len realised that he was glaring at them and forced himself to stop. That wasn’t something that Barry would do…

“How did you find me?” Len demanded, trying to sound more surprised than angry. It probably wouldn’t have been the first question that Barry would have asked, but Len had to know how the heroes had found his apartment. He knew better than to use his cold gun in his own building and so they couldn’t track that, but if they had other ways of tracking people then he needed to know about them.

“We, uh, turned your phone’s GPS on,” Cisco admitted as he stood up and brushed dirt from his clothes. _Oh_. Okay, that answered _that_ question.

“We were worried about you,” Snow said softly and Len frowned.

“Why? I told you, I’m just having a few days off.”

“ _Exactly_!” Cisco said brashly as though Len had just proven their point. Len was missing something here… “Dude, in the three years we’ve known you, I don’t think that you’ve ever had a weekend off.”

“Not willingly, anyway,” Doctor Snow added.

“That can’t be right,” Len drawled, but Barry’s friends just shrugged. _Damn_ , _this kid needed to get out more_. “Look, it doesn’t matter. This was,” _stupid_ , “nice of you both to check on me, but I’m fine. Really.” Len backed up a little bit and was about to tell them to leave when Snow stepped forward.

“Wait. Just… who is this guy?” She asked. “We didn’t even know you were interested in anyone, Barry.” _Yeah_ , Len thought, _there’s a reason for that_. He was about to give a generic answer when an idea came to him and he had to resist the urge to smirk, knowing it would look odd on Barry’s lips.

“Oh, yeah, you’d love him,” Len said, talking himself up. “He’s smart, funny, rich, sexy… body like a _God_.”

"Why do superheroes always get the best men?" Caitlin sighed dramatically and Len surprised himself by laughing. It was only then, however, that Len realised he could no longer hear the shower running. _Crap_. How long had that been off for? He had to make sure Cisco and Caitlin left before they could see Barry come out of the bathroom.

“When do we get to meet him?”

“Another time,” Len hedged. “Right now you _really_ have to-“ The bathroom door opened behind him and Cisco’s eyes went wide.

 _Too late_.

There was a long moment of silence where the four just looked at each other, and then: “Leonard _Snart_?!” Caitlin all but shouted. She pushed forward and Cisco followed behind her in what looked to be shock. Snow looked from Barry to Len. “Tell me you’re not dating _Leonard Snart_!” Caitlin insisted to Len and he smirked.

“Okay, I’m not dating Leonard Snart,” Len replied easily.

“Then what’s he doing standing there in a _towel_ , Barry?!” Cisco joined in, apparently having woken from his state of disbelief. Len looked to Barry, but the kid looked completely unprepared to deal with his friends’ anger right now, so Len decided he could take the fall for a little longer.

“Showering?” Len shrugged. He may be pretending to be Barry still, but that didn’t mean he still had to put on the act. Len, knowing that this situation wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, turned to close the door. He looked back at Barry and nodded towards the spare bedroom. “Why don’t you go get dressed,” he suggested and Barry nodded quickly, retreating away to put on some pants.

When Len turned back to Barry’s friends, they were looking at him like they didn’t even recognise him anymore. Which wasn’t a surprise, considering they still thought Len was Barry.

“Anyone want a coffee or…?” He offered.

“I would _prefer_ an explanation,” Cisco muttered in reply and Len led them into his living room.

"What would you like to know?" He asked once they eventually sat down, looking around at the apartment as though it was booby-trapped and they'd got shot with the cold gun if they trod on the wrong panel of the floorboards.

“How long have you and... _him_... been together?” Caitlin asked, she seemed calmer now but not any happier about the situation.

“Two weeks,” Len answered swiftly. “Next?”

“ _Two weeks_ …” Snow repeated and shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us about this.”

“Like that would have made this all better,” Len snarked back automatically.

“It would have been a start! We’re a _team_ , Barry. We need to trust each other, but how can we do that when you lie to us like this?” Caitlin continued, managing to surprise Len. He looked between the two of them and they both stared back earnestly. That was their issue with this? Not that Barry was dating Len, but that he’d kept it a secret from them? Len didn’t know how to reply to that and so he kept quiet. After a moment Cisco shook his head and started speaking again.

“Just… _How_?” He asked. Len thought about it for a minute and wondered if he should tell them that he wasn’t really Barry, but figured it should wait until Barry was back. If they were as big on honesty as they seemed, then it was better coming from their friend.

“Oh, well you know me: I can’t resist a bad boy,” Len joked and watched as the good doctor’s face scrunched up. “The other week I just decided it was time to stop denying my feelings for Leonard Snart. I made sure he knew, under no uncertain terms, how I felt and all but grovelled at his feet until he agreed to date me.”

“That did _not_ happen,” Barry insisted as he walked into the room, looking much more prepared to deal with the situation now. “If anything, it was the other way around!”

Len smirked.

“For the time being, I think they’re more inclined to believe me,” Len drawled.

“What has gotten _into_ you, Barry?!” Cisco demanded then. After a moment he pulled a face, waving his hands in an ‘ _abort_ ’ motion. “Wait, don’t answer that! I don’t want to know!... But, seriously, you’re not even acting like yourself…”

Cisco was looking Len dead in the eye as he pleaded for information. Len looked back for a moment before turning to make eye contact with Barry, instead. Barry nodded at him and took a deep breath before sheepishly raising his hand.

“I’m over here…” Barry mumbled, his friends frowning at him. They didn’t get it yet.

“Yeah, we see you, Cold,” Cisco snarked. “That’s kind of why we’re sitting here arguing in the first place.”

“No,” Barry shook his head and pointed at Len. “ _He’s_ not me. _I’m_ me. I mean, him. I mean, I’m Barry!” he declared.

“You’re…” Caitlin started, her eyes wide as she looked at Barry in Len’s body, but couldn’t find the words to finish. She turned back to face Len “So that means _you’re_ …” Len gave a smile a small sarcastic wave. “… I think I need to lie down,” she muttered under her breath.

“Madam Metempsychose got to us last night,” Barry told them. They let that sink in for a moment before Cisco suddenly stood up.

“Okay, everyone back to STAR Labs!” He commanded.

“What’s the point?” Barry sighed, stepping forward. Cisco tensed automatically before forcing himself to relax, probably having to remind himself that he wasn’t _really_ facing up to Captain Cold. "We've run hundreds of tests on this and never been able to find a way to speed up the process. Len and I will revert back soon enough."

“Yeah, well, maybe that kind of attitude was why we could never find a cure before. Maybe we just needed a bit of inspiration. And I’m certainly feeling inspired today; how about you, Caitlin?” Cisco asked and she stood up quickly.

“Plenty inspired.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

“Wait, Cisco!” Barry stood in front of their way so they couldn’t leave as Len continued to watch silently. “What do you really expect to find today that you couldn’t this past month? Can’t we just wait and talk about all of this next week?”

“And just leave _Captain Cold_ running around in the Flash’s body?!” Cisco whisper-shouted to Barry. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on! Len’s not going to do anything…” Barry muttered, but even he didn’t sound convinced. Smart. Len sighed and stood up, all eyes in the room landing on him.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

“That’s the spirit,” Cisco announced and hesitated for only a second before he dragged Barry away. Caitlin at least looked apologetic as she followed. Len grabbed his keys and one of his longer coats: which was a bit too big for Barry’s shoulders, perfect for concealing the cold gun. He locked up and followed them outside. Len took one look at the cramped van that Cisco drove and shook his head, choosing to ride on his bike rather than crushed into that thing along with the others. Cisco didn’t seem happy about leaving Len unsupervised for any period of time while he was in Barry’s body and so Barry sighed and grabbed a second helmet. If anything, Cisco seemed even _less_ happy with this arrangement but Caitlin just dragged him into the van.

To give Barry’s friends some peace of mind, he didn’t speed away from them and instead stuck next to the van for the entire ride to STAR Labs. Caitlin led them to a medical-type room where she got them both to sit down while she took blood, Cisco standing in the doorway and watching for the entire process. Whereas Snow seemed to have calmed down and almost accepted the fact that he and Barry were together, Cisco still was very much on edge about the whole thing.

Once they’d both given a few blood samples, they all retired back to the cortex. The atmosphere was still thick with tension but Barry seemed to be trying his best to lift it. Len could tell it wasn’t working with Cisco, though, who emanated quiet anger.

Caitlin was creating blood films, Cisco was typing away on his laptop, Barry was sitting hunched over with his head in his hands, and Len was pretending to read a book. The room was near silent, which was how the sound of approaching footsteps from down the hall was easily heard. Len sat up straight and Cisco put on a fake half-smile.

“Oh, sounds like Joe’s here.”

“ _Joe_?!” Barry whisper-shouted, standing up instantly as all of the blood drained from his face. “Please tell me you’re joking!”

“Of course not,” Cisco chirped. “You guys witnessed a crime, you need to give a statement. I figured Joe was the best choice.” He continued and even _Caitlin_ was giving her friend an unimpressed look.

“You really called Joe on me? That is not cool, guys,” Barry complained, not picking up on the fact that Snow had obviously had nothing to do with it. Len was just glad that he was in Barry’s body for this so that he wouldn’t get shot.

Thankfully, Cisco had already filled Detective West in on the body-switching situation. He took one look at the cool persona Len was wearing with the nervous energy that Barry was emitting and just sighed.

“I’d hoped you were joking,” West muttered to Cisco before looking back at the couple in the room. “Let me get this straight,” the detective continued and pointed at Barry inside Len’s body. “You’re Barry.” He then turned to point at Len. “And you’re _Snart_?”

“For the time being,” Len answered flatly as Barry nodded awkwardly.

“… I really need to move,” West muttered, sounding exhausted. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen in Keystone.” He collapsed into a nearby chair. “How did this even happen?”

“Oh, _this_ is the best part,” Cisco muttered from across the room.

“You’re not helping,” Caitlin reprimanded him while Joe let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Whatever it is, I can take it,” he announced but neither Len nor Barry made to answer his question. He turned to look his at his adoptive son. “Just tell me… are you two working together again?”

“Not exactly,” Cisco huffed. Len decided that it was better to let Barry take this one, he knew West better than Len did after all, so he just sat back silently.

“The truth is, me and Len,” the detective quirked an eyebrow at Barry’s choice of name for the man who was supposed to be his nemesis, “accidentally interrupted the meta’s heist last night… while we were on a date.”

[] [] []

Joe was livid.

Barry couldn’t remember the last time that he’d seen his adoptive father act like this. He was shouting and pacing and shouting some more, the tired and withdrawn mood he’d previously been in completely vanished to be replaced with a white-hot anger.

He looked like he was actually going to hit something, that _thing_ probably would have been Len's face if Barry wasn't currently inside his body. Barry tried to defend his and Len's relationship to Joe, but he couldn't get a word in edgeways as Joe told him again and again how stupid he was being. Joe's arguments were vast and loud, ranging from "he's just using you" to "you're going to lose your job over this".

When Joe eventually stormed out of the cortex to go cool down, Barry was broken. He was stood stock still in the middle of the cortex and the room was completely silent. Barry didn’t even realise that he was crying until suddenly Len was there and pulling him in for a hug. Suddenly it felt like he couldn’t carry himself any longer, but Len carried Barry’s weight for him and held him as he sobbed into Len’s shoulder.

“Joe’s wrong,” Len said confidently once Barry had stopped shaking, and Barry clung on a little tighter to him. “We’re going to be fine. It’ll just take some convincing for him to see it.” Barry nodded, he’d stopped sobbing now but the tears were still scratching at his eyes. He rubbed them away and more just kept coming without his permission. Len stroked his back as Barry _finally_ regained his composure. "Now stop crying, you're ruining my reputation as a supervillain," Len teased and Barry barked out a laugh despite himself.

He wondered how Len was able to act so calm about this. This whole situation was probably extremely hard on him too. Not just facing Joe and working with Barry’s team, but having Barry walking around wearing Len’s body. Everyone kept talking about the mess that Len could make in Barry’s life, but Barry had the exact same power over Len’s life while they were like this. It had to be difficult for Len to trust that Barry wasn’t going to abuse that power.

They stayed silent for a moment, just standing there in the middle of the cortex and holding one another. With Barry's eyes closed, he could almost imagine that it was romantic... almost like they were completely alone and back in their own bodies. But the ache in Barry's chest, the throbbing of his head, and the stinging in his eyes reminded him all too clearly that they were in STAR Labs with his friends nearby and Joe probably pacing a hole into the floor a few rooms away.

“Oh,” Cisco uttered from the doorway and Barry jumped, pulling away from Len and wiping at his face.

“The shouting stopped so we thought we could come back in,” Caitlin continued where she was standing beside Cisco. They had both excused themselves from the room once Joe had started getting angry. “But if we’re interrupting…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Barry waved off but he wouldn’t look at them. Len’s shirt (or _Barry’s_ shirt, technically) had a large wet patch on the shoulder from Barry's tears and, given how badly his head was throbbing, Barry would bet that his face currently looked puffy, blotchy, and red. Which was actually Len's face. Leonard Snart, Captain Cold, cold-hearted supervillain… crying. Barry couldn't imagine how this looked to his friends.

Cisco and Cait hung in the doorway for a little longer before they entered the room. Len turned back to reading his book and Barry took a seat across the room, looking down at the floor so that no one could see just how badly he’d been crying. Caitlin went back to creating the blood films, but Cisco hovered at his computer for a moment before changing his mind and sitting next to Barry instead.

“I shouldn’t have called Joe,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” Barry shook his head before replying.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, it is,” Cisco said softly. “I overreacted.” Barry finally lifted his head, just a little, to look at Cisco. He seemed sincere. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still not thrilled by this. But calling your dad on you was a pretty shitty thing to do.” Barry laughed at that and nodded. “I’ll try to be more supportive.”

“Thank you,” Barry said. Cisco nodded but hesitated before moving away.

“So, what’s it like being inside _Captain Cold_ ’s body?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood, and then made a face. “In a non-sexual way, I mean. Please, don’t tell me about your sex life with Leonard Snart.” Barry laughed and blushed.

“It’s…” Barry didn’t have the words to describe how bizarre it was being in someone else’s body. The phrase ‘ _feeling out of your own skin_ ' had never been truer than in this moment. "Odd," Barry settled for. "But, hey, maybe this means I can finally get drunk again?" Barry added and Cisco laughed.

"There's always a silver lining," he muttered and then stood up and went back to his computer. Barry ended up leaving to wash his face, feeling relieved when he found that Joe still hadn't shown back up yet while he'd been gone. He took to helping Cait set up more blood films while they waited for his adoptive father to return.

It was another good five minutes before he did, and the almost comrade-type feeling in the room shattered again once he showed up in the doorway. The tension grew, Barry finished the film he was working on and placed it in the tray to dry before standing up again. Len bookmarked his page before copying him.

"Here's what we're going to do," Joe started, his voice was sharp still but he wasn't shouting anymore. "I'll go back to the station and get the suspect books, you two will look through them and identify her, we'll find her, she'll switch you back, and _then_ we’ll tackle the rest.” By the rest, he meant Barry and Len’s relationship. Barry didn’t have it in him to argue anymore and so he just nodded. He’d save his energy and insist that Len wasn’t going anywhere once they were back in their own bodies again. Joe turned to leave but Len spoke up.

“And what happens when we show up there, she switches us all again, and this time I end up in _your_ body?” Before Joe could say anything, Cisco jumped in with an answer.

“Actually, I have an idea for that,” he said, swivelling around in his chair to face them. “I only have one prototype ready, but I could whip up a couple more within the hour,” Cisco added. Joe nodded and left then, without saying a word. Barry watched him go and sighed. He needed to de-stress. This whole day had been one headache after another.

“I’m going to make a run to Jitters,” Barry decided and all three pairs of eyes turned to him.

“I’ll come with,” Len said instantly and that made Cisco jump out of his chair.

“Me too,” he said and Barry rolled his eyes.

“What do you think Len’s going to do at _Jitters_?" Barry questioned. "Wait ‘til my back's turned and make a run for it?" Cisco just shrugged. "You promised Joe that you'd get this tech done," Barry reminded him and Cisco frowned down at his workstation.

“I, uh… Caitlin?” Cisco turned to her and she nodded. She looked between Len and Barry apologetically as she stood up.

“I _am_ just waiting around for your blood films to air dry before I can examine them,” she said and Barry gave up and nodded. Len picked up his coat from where it had been thrown over the back of his chair, and they followed her out to her car. Barry took the front passenger seat as she drove them to Jitters. Cait parked up but hesitated before turning off the car. “Maybe you should wait here,” she said to Barry.

“ _Me_?” He questioned. “Why?”

“Well, you don’t exactly look like yourself right now, Barry,” she pointed out and he looked down at Len’s black biker boots, the straight-cut black jeans, and the soft black form-fitting turtleneck that he was wearing. Right. He looked like Captain Cold…

“I won’t get recognised,” he said but Cait didn’t look so sure.

“The only people who ever recognise me in normal clothes, are fellow criminals who knew me before I took the cold gun,” Len added from the back seat of the car. Barry settled back in his seat as he saw Cait hesitate some more.

“I’ll wait here,” he allowed. He was fine staying in the car just so long as Len got him a salted caramel mocha latte… they’d become his latest addiction. The two climbed out of the car and Barry sat back with his phone. He brought up Instagram and the first thing he saw was one of those face-swap pictures from snapchat. Barry couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. He scrolled down his feed a little more before a sudden knocking on the window made Barry jump and stumble to catch his phone.

Barry looked at the man waiting outside Cait’s car, he didn’t recognise him. He was wearing all black, a hoodie pulled up but not quite masking his face, and he didn’t look happy. Barry held down the button to open the window.

“Can I help you?” He asked, trying to drawl his words like Len would.

“Get out the car, Snart,” the men said. He was tall and broad, the bagginess of the hoodie doing nothing to hide his muscular arms and threatening stance. “We need to talk.” _Crap_. This couldn’t be good…

“I’m comfy here,” Barry muttered after a quick look around which confirmed that there was no one else in sight on the foggy street. The man in the black hoodie took a gun out of his jacket then and _fuck_. If he decided to shoot, Barry had no chance to get out of the way in time while stuck inside a car. At least outside he could try to run. With that in mind, Barry reached for the ignition and removed the key. He clutched it tightly in his hand as he got out of the car, it was the only thing he could use as a weapon to defend himself.

“What’s wrong with _you_?” Black Hoodie asked, meaning that he already saw through Barry’s Captain Cold act. As subtly as he could, Barry dialled Caitlin on his speed dial. He just had to hope she hadn’t left her phone back at the lab. The man grabbed Barry’s wrist to see who he was calling and Barry swung his fist at the man’s face to try to injure him using Cait’s keys. But he was an uncoordinated mess when he didn’t have his powers, and being in someone else’s body didn’t exactly help matters.

Black Hoodie blocked the attack easily and the keys fell from Barry’s hand. Crap, crap, _crap_. Barry managed to pull his wrist from the man as he punched at him again. This time the punch landed on his jaw and Black Hoodie stumbled back. Barry took off running towards the coffee shop immediately: if he could just get off the street, if he could just get to Len, then he’d be safe. But he didn’t get very far before the man was tackling him.

“ _Len_!” Barry shouted for help. That seemed to surprise Black Hoodie so much that he froze. So, Barry took his chance to call out again, louder this time: “ _Len_!” He shouted as loud as he could and tried to run away, but the man grabbed him again and punched Barry in the gut. He held his gun to Barry as he tried to call out again. Barry, winded, coughed and continued trying to shout for his boyfriend as Black Hoodie dragged him further away from the shop and towards the alleyway.

He was going to shoot him.

Crap. He was really going to _shoot_ him. And Barry wouldn’t heal. Because Barry was in Len’s body. Fuck, if he died then would Len remain in Barry’s body forever? Would they switch back so that Barry was still alive but Len had died? Would they _both_ die? There were so many questions here that Barry was desperate not to find the answer to.

He tried to pull away, but Black Hoodie was too strong. He cried out again, noticing that they were at the mouth of the alleyway now, but the man raised his fist to punch him in the gut again. Barry winced in anticipation, but the blow never came. Barry opened his eyes to a familiar sound: the quiet whirring of Len’s cold gun. He’d never thought that he would be _relieved_ to hear that sound. Barry saw the blast of the cold gun hit Black Hoodie’s hand, knocking the gun from his fingers and covering his hand in ice.

Black Hoodie instantly dropped his hold on Barry and cried out in pain. Len rushed forward and covered the man’s mouth to keep him quiet. Len pushed the man up against the wall of the alleyway and told him to shut up. The man quietened down eventually and Len removed his hand from Black Hoodie’s mouth.

“ _He’s_ not really Leonard Snart, is he?” the man asked, his voice cracking as he tried to put on a brave show.

“Well done,” Len congratulated him coldly. “But, sorry, I’m all fresh out of gold stickers. Can I interest you in some ice instead?” Len stepped even closer until the cold gun was pressed against the man’s head. “Listen here, Rossi, the only reason you aren’t an icicle on the ground right now, is so you can pass on this message: tell the Santini family that if they touch my boyfriend again, Captain Cold will introduce to them a new meaning for the term ‘ _head cold_ ’. You got that?” Len asked and the man nodded. “Good. Go.”

Black Hoodie, Rossi, quickly moved away and Len didn’t relax until the man was out of sight. Len powered down the cold gun and went to Barry’s side. Caitlin, who had been standing behind Len and holding the four coffees, managed to blink away the shock in her eyes and rushed to Barry too.

“Are you okay?” She asked as Barry rubbed at his sore wrist. Barry nodded, his abdomen still throbbing.

“Does this kind of thing just follow you around?” Len joked and Barry rolled his eyes.

“If it follows anyone around, it’s you,” he muttered and Len shrugged as he hid the cold gun away into a concealed pocket in his coat. “Have you been carrying that thing around all day?” Barry asked with a frown and Len just shrugged again.

“If I hadn’t then I might not have been able to save your life,” Len pointed out and hurried him away. “Are you really going to complain?” Len had a point, that man _was_ going to kill Barry. Len picked the keys up off the floor and passed them to Cait as he took the coffee from her.

“Who was he, Len?” Barry asked after they climbed inside the car and pulled away from the curb.

“You may remember that I took out the Don of the Santini crime family a few years ago,” Len reminded them. “The rest of the family haven’t exactly been happy with me since. They know that they can’t take on the Rogues so they keep out of my way for the most part, but they strike whenever they think I’m weak.”

“Oh, great,” Cait bit out. “So now the _Mafia_ knows your- _Barry’s_ face?”

“Would you have preferred me to kill him?” Len muttered. “Rossi will tell them what happened and that Barry’s off-limits. If they’re smart, which they are, they won’t try anything,” Len all but growled. The car went quiet for a bit and Barry was fidgeting. His knees were weak and adrenaline high. Len took a quick look at the names scribbled on the side of the to-go cups and gave Barry his coffee. He smelt the salted caramel in the air and it made his chest feel just a little bit warmer.

“Did you get-“

“Extra whip cream? Of course,” Len confirmed and Barry smiled weakly as he took a sip. Caitlin was palpably silent all the way back to STAR Labs, the tension in the car getting too thick for Barry to ignore any longer. Once they pulled up outside the labs, Barry turned to her.

“Caitlin, what’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Oh, nothing: apparently, we can just shoot people now and laugh about it over coffee. There’s nothing wrong with that at all,” she muttered sharply. “I get that it was to save you, Barry, I really do. But you shouldn’t be this calm about it. And are we just glossing over the fact that he shot that guy while in _your_ body?” She added, looking really worked up. “What if someone _saw_ that? What if they can ID you?”

“I’m not calm, Caitlin,” Barry replied quietly. He wasn’t: he was a mess on the inside, he was sweating, his heart still racing, his stomach in knots.

“And the Mafia isn’t exactly known for going to the cops,” Len pointed out. “This isn’t going to come back around to Barry.” Caitlin, still looking unhappy, shook her head and climbed out of the car. Barry rushed to follow her.

“Cait… can we just wait to tell Joe about what happened?” Barry asked. “He’s still trying to wrap his head around everything else he found out today. If he hears about this, he might just explode,” Barry laughed nervously and she nodded.

"Sure, Barry," she muttered. The atmosphere remained tense as they walked back to the cortex and waited for Joe to return. Once back in the room, they filled Cisco in on what happened and Cisco demanded that Len give up the cold gun. Len did so with no trouble and a simple roll of his eyes, leaving the team to wonder just how many backups he had…

Barry asked him that exact question once Cait and Cisco had calmed down a little, but Len just shook his head with an "I don't know what you're talking about" as he sipped his coffee.

Joe returned ten minutes later with the suspect books for Len and Barry to flick through. Len got bored after the first few pages and began flicking through it at superspeed, finding the woman in barely a few seconds. Barry looked at the picture and agreed that this was the meta who had switched their bodies. Joe took the book from Len and rang the precinct to get more information on her. While he was out of the room, Barry smiled at Len.

“What?” Len asked after a moment and Barry shook his head.

"It's just… I did the exact same thing, flicking through the book at superspeed when I identified you after we first met," Barry explained with a shrug and Len huffed a laugh.

“That’s not something that normal couples get sentimental about, Barry,” Len drawled.

“Then I’m glad we’re not normal,” Barry responded. “It sounds boring.”

“Do you two mind not flirting in front of me?” Cisco called over from his table, his back was to the room. He’d been too busy to explain what he was doing yet and so none of them knew what he was working on. “I agreed to be supportive, but I have my limits.” His words were a bit harsh but his tone was light enough for Barry to tell that he was, _mostly_ , joking and so Barry just rolled his eyes.

“How’s it coming along?” He asked.

“Al _most_ …” Cisco dragged the word out for a few seconds longer before suddenly standing up straight. “Done!” He picked up a small box and then chucked it to Len, who caught it easily and opened it to look inside.

“These are contact lenses,” Len muttered, looking unimpressed.

“They’re more than just that, Bar- Leonard,” Cisco had to correct himself, looking awkward suddenly. He shook his head and stood up tall as he continued. “It’s a miniature display. The outside of the lens captures what you’re looking at and displays it onto the inside, like a video.”

“Awesome,” Barry breathed, taking his pair from Cisco. Len just frowned.

“How is this supposed to help?”

"Because so far the only person who was unaffected by Metempsychose was a blind kid at one of her robberies last week. So, it stands to reason that you need to physically be able to see the light from her eyes for it to affect you," Cisco explained, seeming much calmer around Len now that he was talking about his work. "Once you're wearing these, you won't be able to see anything unless the display is on. I even added in an automatic dimmer so the video acts like a 2nd messenger system. Except, instead of amplifying the signal, it dims it before it reaches your eyes."

“And you’re sure this will work?” Len persisted.

“Like, 98% sure,” Cisco replied, taking some candy out of his desk drawer and munching on it. Len still didn’t look mollified by that answer.

“He’s sure,” Barry insisted, placing his hand on Len’s arm and hoping to soothe his worries. He knew that Len wasn’t used to trusting and relying on other people.

“This whole ‘opposites day’ thing is really getting weird,” Cisco remarked, looking between. “You know, I’m half tempted to put Bambi on and get a video of Captain Cold crying.”

“I don’t cry at Bambi,” Barry insisted to Len quickly and Cisco laughed.

“You cry at every Disney movie,” he muttered and then clicked his fingers suddenly. “Frozen,” he corrected. “I should get a video of Captain Cold crying at _Frozen_.”

“Try it and I’ll shoot you,” Len warned and Cisco frowned.

“Maybe it’s the fact that you’re wearing my best friend’s face, but your threats really don’t scare me anymore,” Cisco declared and Len seemed to glare even harder until Cisco winced. “Okay, maybe just a little bit,” he amended. Barry rolled his eyes and was about to comment when Joe re-entered the room.

“Okay, you two,” he said, pointing at Len and Barry, “with me. I have her address.” Barry took the final pair of contacts from Cisco and they both followed Joe out of the room, this time taking Joe’s car instead of the bike. Barry would hate to imagine how his foster father would react if he saw Barry on the back of that thing…

When they got to the woman's house they all slipped in their contacts, Len doing so with surprising ease which made Barry wonder if he'd ever used colour contacts before to disguise his bright blue eyes while working a heist, and knocked on the door. There was no answer but there was movement inside and so obviously she was home. Joe continued banging on the door to no avail.

“Sounds to me like someone’s crying out for help,” Len suggested and Joe glared at him before giving in.

“ _Fine_ ,” he said, and then under his breath: “a few hours with you and I’m already breaking and entering…” He tried the handle but the door was locked.

“Len can phase inside,” Barry said and Joe sighed, stepping aside.

“Phase?” Len questioned.

“Yeah, it’s easy once you get the hang of it. I’ll coach you through it,” Barry responded but Len shook his head.

“I have a better idea,” he replied, dropping to his knees in front of the door and taking something from his coat pocket.

“So, you just carry around a pocket knife?” Joe muttered, looking less and less impressed by the second.

“Well, you never know when you’re gonna to need a can opener,” Len drawled and Barry shook his head in disbelief. Joe turned his glare to Barry, the sarcastic ‘ _what a catch,_ _I get what you see in him_ ’ was implied. This could not get any worse. Len pushed the knife into the lock, wiggled it around a bit, and within seconds the door unlocked with a click. Barry blinked at him as he wondered how the hell Len had been able to do that so quickly, and with nothing more than a _knife_ too!

Joe didn't waste any more time, taking his gun from his holster and walking into the house in front of them. Joe barely made it halfway into the hallway before the woman appeared at the end of the way with a gun in her hand. Barry could tell right away that she was definitely the metahuman that had switched their bodies.

“Woah, easy there. I’m a detective with the CCPD. It sounded like you were in need of help,” Joe stated, covering his actions.

“ _Bull_ shit,” Madam Metempsychose replied, but she lowered her gun when Joe did, and then her eyes landed on Len and Barry. “Don’t I know you two?” She muttered

“It seems we didn’t make as good of an impression on you as you did on us,” Len drawled. “You switched our bodies,” he prompted. “We’d like to change back now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about and I want you all out of my house!”

“Not so fast,” Joe stopped her. “You got a permit for that gun?”

“You got a warrant?” She demanded.

“I don’t need a warrant to ask for a permit,” Joe rebutted and Metempsychose began looking around as though she was getting ready to bolt. “Drop the gun.” Joe demanded and the woman responded by flaring her eyes. Barry couldn’t help but wince. But, this time, there was no accompanied nausea or dizziness. The light shining from her eyes wasn’t as bright viewed through these contacts and it seemed to have no effect on any of them.

Metempsychose looked surprised and confused when none of them stumbled to the ground. Joe raised the gun higher again as he repeated his request and, this time, she complied. Joe searched her to make sure she had no more weapons on her person before he read the woman her rights and applied the power-dampening handcuffs that Cisco had made for the precincts a few months ago.

“Now here’s what’s going to happen. Since you already failed to provide a warrant for _this_ gun,” he kicked the weapon on the floor, “I have the authority to search your house and vehicle for any more illegally owned weapons. And if I just so happen to find some stolen goods along the way… well, you know where this is going. My advice: confess now and switch these two back, and I’ll put in a good word for you with the DA. I can’t promise anything, but they tend to go a lot easier on suspects who don’t put up a fight.”

“I don’t know how to change them back,” Madam Metempsychose muttered. “I’ve tried before but it never works. They’ll change back on their own soon.” Joe didn’t look happy with that explanation as he led her outside to the car. He shut her in the back and then turned to Barry and Len. He took the contacts from his eyes, which was probably a good idea in case they malfunctioned while he was driving, and passed the box to Len. He quickly realised his mistake and scowled at the man who was currently occupying his foster son’s body.

Joe took a detour back to the station, dropping Len and Barry off at STAR Labs before taking Madam Metempsychose to the precinct. He warned them that he would be back within the hour, after locking her up and getting some officers to check her house for evidence. When they got back into the cortex, Caitlin was running an ESR on the blood she’d taken from them and Cisco was playing grand theft auto.

“Oh,” Len drawled as he entered the room. “So, it’s okay for you to drive over prostitutes, but if I rob a bank it’s ‘ _illegal_ ’ and I should ‘ _go to jail_ ’?” He teased. Cisco frowned back at them and paused his game once he noticed Barry in the doorway, both of them obviously still in each other’s bodies.

“It didn’t work?” He asked and Barry shook his, _Len’s_ , head.

“She didn’t know how to undo it,” he answered. Len went back to the book he’d found and started reading again, and so Barry joined Cisco and they replaced GTA with Halo. They played to pass the time until Joe got back and to keep his mind off everything. When he wasn’t actively thinking about the situation, he could almost pretend that everything was okay. On the bright side, at least Cisco and Caitlin had seemed to begrudgingly accept Len at this point. Accept, but not trust: as was evident when Len eventually got up to go to the toilet and Cisco had insisted on showing him the way so that he wasn’t left alone for any period of time in Barry’s body.

When Joe eventually got back, Barry was _tired_. It wasn't even 10 pm but the long day was taking its toll. He rubbed at his eyes and stood up as his foster father entered the room. He looked momentarily between Barry and Len before turning to Cait and asking how her tests were coming along.

“Everything looks normal,” she apologised. “I’ve run every blood test I can think of: whatever’s causing this, it’s not in their circulation.”

“Then where is it?” Joe demanded, he looked desperate. Barry took a step forward and tried to rest his hand on Joe’s shoulder in support, but his foster father flinched away. Barry knew it was an unintentional reaction, he knew that he was currently in Leonard Snart’s body and Joe wasn’t flinching away from _him_. Not really. He was flinching away from _Len_. Barry knew all of this but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Bound to cells, maybe,” Cait suggested. “In their eyes or brain probably… I couldn’t say without biopsies.”

“Is there nothing else you can do?” Joe pleaded and Cait shook her head.

"Maybe a brain scan could help?" She thought out loud. "But we don't have an MRI machine here. It'll take too long to get access to one in another lab."

“We’re only going to be like this for another day,” Barry interjected here. “Two days at the most. There’s probably nothing we can do to speed up the process, at least not tonight, so maybe we should just sleep on it and come back with fresh eyes tomorrow?” Barry suggested. He didn’t like the idea of his friends pulling an all-nighter trying to come up with a solution to this non-issue.

“Fine,” Joe muttered and Barry stared back at him with wide eyes: he hadn’t actually expected Joe to _agree_ with him, not this easily anyway. This was great! Maybe it meant that Joe was warming to Len a little bit? “But you’re sleeping in a cell,” he said to Len. So, yeah, maybe Barry had thought that too soon…

“You’re going to arrest your own son?” Len asked flatly, indicating the fact that Len, for all intents and purposes, _was_ Barry to everyone down at the precinct.

“We have our own cells,” Joe countered.

“You can’t just lock up my boyfriend!” Barry half-shouted and stood in the way as Joe began to approach Len.

“Your _boyfriend_?” Joe blinked. “Barry, he’s a criminal! A criminal who currently has your powers, your face, and the capability to ruin your life. This isn’t up for debate.”

“I trust him,” Barry replied.

“And that’s your problem, Barry,” Joe muttered.

“Let’s just get this over with. I’m tired,” Len interrupted whatever Joe had been about to say and Barry shook his head.

“You don’t have to go along with this,” Barry insisted.

“Yes, he does,” Joe corrected. “He’s in your body, Bear. And I know you like to find the good in everybody, even when it’s not there. But you can’t honestly believe that leaving _any_ criminal in your body, in the _Flash’s_ body, unsupervised is a good idea.”

“He has a point, Barry,” Caitlin said and Barry didn’t need to look to Cisco to see that he agreed too. Outvoted, Barry stayed quiet as Joe lead Len out of the cortex and down to the pipeline. When he came back, it was only to grab his car keys. He looked at Barry critically and then turned to Cisco and Caitlin.

“Don’t let Snart out,” he demanded and left STAR Labs, leaving Barry gaping after him. Once he was out of sight, Barry immediately turned to go down to the cells.

“Hey, _hey_ , where’re you going?” Cisco asked as he jumped in Barry’s way.

“To talk to Len,” Barry muttered. Cait stood up then and put on an apologetic smile.

“We’ll come with you,” she offered.

“I’d prefer to go alone,” Barry rebuffed. He knew he shouldn’t be snapping at his friends, but it just came out.

“And we’d prefer not to get shot when Joe finds out,” Cisco countered with a weak smile.

“He’s not going to shoot you,” Barry replied, but he dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“It’s only for one more day,” Cait tried to comfort him as she led him back to a seat in the cortex.

“I know,” Barry sighed. “And I know this is all really out of the blue for you guys and you don’t really understand where I’m coming from. But you have to trust me, Len is a good guy.” Cisco and Cait shared a look of doubt and Barry shook his head. “I know what he’s done,” Barry said before they could start trying to remind him. “I know,” he sighed again and scrubbed at his face. “He’s a good guy that has done bad things, but he’s still a _good_ _guy_.”

“I’m sure he is,” Caitlin replied softly. “But we haven’t seen that side of him yet… you’re asking us to trust him and we’re _trying_. But, it’s difficult.” Barry nodded, he could understand that. He could, but…

“Then trust _me_.”

“We do,” she replied instantly.

“Just not enough to let Len out,” he finished for her, his head hung low. They were all silent for a moment. Barry was staring down at the floor but he could feel their eyes on him still. “Do you want to know how we _really_ started dating?” Barry asked.

“… We’re listening,” Cisco replied and Barry lifted his head again to look at his friends. “It was a few months ago,” Barry told them. “The anniversary of when my dad died. I knew you guys were looking for me but I didn’t want to be found, so I went to the one place I knew you’d never think to look: this dive bar downtown called Saints and Sinners. I sat in a booth all day with a beer and just got lost in my own mind for a while. And then Len slid into the seat across from me: he thought I was there waiting for him and told me, under no uncertain terms, that he was busy and whatever the Flash wanted him for could wait.”

“Charming,” Cisco muttered and Barry shook his head.

"I went to leave, and apparently that's unlike me so he told me to sit back down and spill." Barry remembered how Len's voice had been stern, as usual, and his face was a cool mask… but his eyes held something like worry in them. "I'm not sure why I did it," Barry muttered honestly, "but I told him the truth. And Len listened. And after a minute he excused himself and went over to the bar because he'd been on a date and he needed to tell the guy to go home," Barry huffed a laugh. "He gave up on a date and chose to sit listening to me talking about my dad all night instead. He gave me his number. I was worried to use it at first," Barry admitted. "But then I accidentally snapchatted him…"

“Wait! Captain Cold has _snapchat_?” Cisco asked as though it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard of. “Does he post pictures of ice sculptures with captions like ‘same’ and ‘hanging out with my bro’?” Barry laughed at that mental image.

“Sure,” Barry muttered. Truth was that Len didn’t really use his snapchat, but if this made Cisco happy then what was the harm in going along with it? “Anyway, I accidentally snapchatted him and he replied and it just kind of became a thing… swapping snaps eventually turned to texting and when he asked me out, I said yes,” Barry finished with a shrug. “Because he’s really not a bad guy. And I really like him.” They both looked conflicted at that before Caitlin just nodded.

“I suppose that this isn’t really our choice,” she said. “He is in _your_ body, so… if you want us to let him out, then we will.” Barry was seconds away from hugging her when a voice interrupted them.

“No need,” Len drawled and they all turned around to see the man in question leaning against the doorway. “What?” He asked when they all just gaped at him.

“How did you get out of your cell?” Cisco demanded and Len smirked.

“I’ve known about them for over two years now,” he reminded them all. “Do you really think I wouldn’t figure out a way to break out, on the off chance that I ever needed to?”

 _Good point_ , Barry thought. “How long have you been standing there?” He asked instead, and Len shrugged.

“Long enough.”

“Cisco, how about we go get some coffee?” Cait said and then looked between Len and Barry. “From Jitters,” she tagged on the end and pulled Cisco from the room. Len moved into the room and took the seat next to Barry’s.

Barry wanted to hug him, or kiss him. In fact, he wanted to do a lot more than that but he couldn’t because they were still in each other’s bodies… And so, the tension just sat between them.

“This is still weird,” Barry muttered.

“Yeah, it is,” Len agreed and the tension in the room got thicker. Now that they were finally alone, they had so much to talk about. Today had been one hell of a day…

“By the way…” Barry muttered, trying to lighten the mood a little. “I think you need glasses.”

"I do _not_. Shut up."

“I think you’d look cute in glasses.”

“Is this one of your kinks, Barry?” Len drawled.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Barry retorted and Len smirked.

"I'd like to find out," he drawled, making the hairs on Barry's arm stand on end. _Soon_ , he thought… he _hoped_.

“So, even after the mess today, you still want to date me?” Barry asked the question that he’d been trying not to think about ever since Cisco and Caitlin showed up at Len’s apartment this morning.

“Well, cat’s already out of the bag, Barry,” Len drawled, and yeah… Barry will never be able to get used to hearing his own voice twang like that. “As far as where your friends and family are concerned, the worst is behind us.”

“Maybe not,” Barry muttered. “Iris still doesn’t know.”

“I thought you said she would be cool with it?” Len asked. And yes, Barry _had_ said that, because Iris already knew about his crush on Captain Cold… In fact, she had been the only person that Barry told when he and Len started snapchatting.

“Yeah, but that was before she was the last one to know we’re actually together. Now she might just kill me,” Barry half-joked.

“Then I guess I’ll have to protect you,” Len purred and Barry smiled softly back at him.

“You really don't hate me?” He asked again, he knew he sounded needy but he hoped that his tough Captain Cold exterior would at least take the edge off of that…

“For what?” Len frowned.

“Well, my heroics kind of got us into this mess,” Barry pointed out. “And then there was that disaster at Jitters…”

“I don't hate you, Barry,” Len insisted. “And anyway, if nothing else, at least this day has been interesting. There really is never a boring moment with you, Kid.” Barry smiled at that. Len said it as though it was the highest compliment he could give and something about that tugged at the corners of Barry’s lips. “What?”

“You're cute.”

“I'm in your body,” Len reminded him and Barry shook his head.

“No, not physically cute,” Barry muttered, and then his eyes went wide as he realised he’d basically just insulted his boyfriend. Or maybe he’d insulted himself?... this was getting too confusing. “Though you're _obviously_ that too,” he rushed to correct himself and then sighed. “But just _you_. Who you are. You're cute.”

“I'm dangerous,” Len corrected.

“As dangerous as a puppy,” he teased.

“Puppies have sharp teeth," Len replied seriously and Barry laughed. They fell into a peaceful silence for a moment and Len looked around them at the empty cortex. “I think I’ve seen enough of STAR Labs for one day,” he muttered. “I’m going to go back home. Do you want to come with?” Barry did. And not just because he _needed_ to, not liking the idea of switching back bodies tomorrow and leaving Len defenceless in Joe’s house, but because he _wanted_ to.

Barry realised suddenly that he was probably falling in love with Leonard Snart. And maybe, hopefully, Len was falling in love with him too. He nodded and they picked up the bike helmets before leaving STAR Labs.

[ _Epilogue_ ]

It had been a few days now since they’d switched back into their own bodies. Once it’d finally happened, Barry had left Len’s apartment to go deal with Joe… Len wasn’t really sure how that was going. They hadn’t talked as much this past few days as they normally would have, but Len just had to trust Barry when his boyfriend told Len there was nothing to worry about.

And he did trust Barry. He trusted Barry with his life, with his _sister’s_ life. Len couldn’t recall a time when he’d trusted someone as whole-heartedly as he trusted Barry Allen.

And maybe that was why he was so worried: he didn’t want to lose this. He kept having to remind himself that he’d been alone most of his life and he’d been happy enough that way… but in his heart, he knew that it would hurt too much to lose Barry now.

And so, when Len opened his door to see Barry standing there with a grin on his face, Len didn’t hold back his own smile. He leaned closer and pressed his own lips against his boyfriend’s in a way that he’d been _aching_ to do for days. It was a slow and passionate slide of lips and tongue that made Len’s skin buzz with electricity.

Barry hummed as they pulled away. “I think that’s the best hello I’ve ever received.”

“Good,” Len drawled.

“I got you a present,” Barry said then and pulled a small, curved, rectangular box from his jacket pocket: a glasses case.

"For the last time, Barry, I don't need reading glasses," Len denied. Not that he would admit it to anyone, but he'd been getting regular eye checks ever since he'd turned 39 and his vision was still 20:20. Maybe in another six or seven years, it might be different… but not now.

“I know,” Barry replied, his voice sultry, as he pulled out another item: a condom. And… huh, what do you know? Len had been wrong: a smirk fitted Barry’s lips perfectly. Len opened the door a little wider to invite his boyfriend inside.

**Author's Note:**

> And now coldflash week is over *sigh* I hope you all enjoyed these collabs between me and [aquafolie](http://aquafolie.tumblr.com/). As always, leave me a comment below to let me know your thoughts? I'd love to hear from you guys and your comments always make me smile (a welcome break from my revision *cries* only a few more weeks to go and then I've finished university for good! Maybe then I'll be able to get back to my regular posting on my WIPs) ~ _Thundersnow_


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